Saudi Arabia and UAE to partner with Asia on oil stockpiling initiative

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are set to collaborate with Asian nations on a new oil stockpiling initiative, according to a report by the Nikkei business daily. The Japan-led Asia Zero-Emission Community (Azec), which includes 11 countries, will hold a ministerial meeting in the Philippines on Thursday. Senior officials from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are expected to announce their intention to cooperate on building crude oil stockpiles in Asia during this meeting.

The framework for this cooperation will be included in a joint statement from the meeting, serving as a basis for discussions on expanding oil reserves with Middle Eastern producers. Specific details and the scale of the cooperation will be determined through bilateral talks, potentially involving expanded exports or priority supplies in emergencies. Japan is already involved in similar initiatives, leasing domestic storage tanks to state-owned oil companies in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Japan plans to share the framework at a ministerial dialogue of the International Energy Forum in Saudi Arabia on October 11. An anonymous industry ministry official confirmed that discussions between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Asian oil-consuming countries will take place on the sidelines of the Azec meeting, though no concrete projects will be discussed at this stage.